The Bossier banner., 1887-10-06


by Grace Darling, or Marie Antolnette, o.
Joan of Arc.
Again, remark it is woman's right &c
bring to us the kingdom of Heaven. 1t II
easier for woman to be Christian thar
for man. Why? You say she is weaker
No. Her heart is more responsive to the
pleadings of divine love. She is in vast
majority. The fact that she can more
easily become Christian prove by the
statement that three-fourths of the MEM
bers of the churches in all Christendom
are women. So God appoints them to be
the chief agencies for bringing this world
back to God. Imay stand here and say
the soul is immortal. There is man who
will refute it. / may stand here and say
we are lost and undone without Christ.
There is man who will refute it. / may
stand here and say there will be judg-
ment day after awhile. Yonder is some
one who will refute it. But a Christian
woman in a Christian household, living -,
the faith and consistency of Christ'-
Gospel-nobody can refute tha.
The greatest sermons are not preached o.,
celebrated platforms; they are preachei
with an audience of two or three, and il
private home life. A consistent, conss'
Grated Christian service is an unanswern-
bic demonstration of Gods truth.
A sailor came slipping down the ratlina
one night, as though some thing had hap
pened, and the sailors cried: "What's the
matter?" He said: "My mothers prayers
haunt me like ghost" Home influente ca
consecrated, Christian home influences,
are the mightiest of all influences upon tiie
soul. There are men here to day who ha,n
maintained their integrity, not because
th"y were any better naturally than sorIs
Other people, but because there were hort,
| influences praying for them all tfn
| time. They got a start. They weie
launched on the world with ti,s
benedictions of Christian mother. They
may track Siberian SHOWS, they may
plunge in African jungles, they may fly tG
the earth's end-they can not go so far
| and SO fast but the prayers will keep up
with them.
l stand before women to-day who have
the eternal salvation of their husbands in
their right hand. On the marriage day
| you took an oath before men and angels
| that you would be faithful and kind until
| death did you part, and l believe you are
going to keep that oath; but after that
| parting at the door of the grave, will it be
| eternal separation? Is there any such
thing as an immortal marriage, making
the flowers that grow on the top of the
| sepulchre brighter than the garlands
which at the marriage banquet flooded the
| air with aroma? Yes; l stand here as
| priest of the most high God to proclaim
the banns of an immortal union for all
those who join hands in the grace of
| Christ. o, woman, is your husband, your
father, your son away from God? The
| Lord demands their redemption at your
hands. There are prayers for you to offer,
there are exhortations for you to give,
there are examples for you to set, and /
| say now, as Paul said to the Cofinthian
! woman:
| What knowest thou, O, woman, but thou
canst save thy husband?
A man was dying, and he said to his
wife: "Re5ecca, you wouldn't let me have
family prayers; and you laughed about
all that, and you got me away into world
illness; and now 1 am going to die,
and my fate is sealed, and you are the
cause of my ruin - o woman,
what knowest thou but thou cans't destroy
thy husband? Are there not soma here
who have kindly influences at home? Are
there not some here who have wandered
far away from God, who eau remember
the Christian influences of their early
home? Do not despise these influences,
my brother. If you die without Christ,
what will you do with your mothers
prayers, with you wife's opportunities,
with your sisters entreaties? What will
you do with the letters they use to write
you, with the memory of those days when
they attended you so kindly in times Of
sickness? Oh, if there be just one strand
holding you from floating off on that dark
sea, I would just like, this morning,
to take hold of that strand and
pull you to the beach. For
the sake of your wife's God, for the sake
of your mothers God, for the sake of
your daughters God, for the sake of your
sisters God, come this day and be saved.
Lastly, wish to say that one of the
specific rights of woman is, through the
grace of Christ, finally to reach Heaven.
Mary, Christ's mother, in Heaven; Eliza
beth Fry in Heaven; Charlotte Elizabeth
in Heaven; the mother of Augustine in
Heaven; the Countess of Huntingdon,
who sold her splendid jewels to build
chapels, in Heaven, while great many
others who have never been heard of on
earth, or known but little, have gone into
the rest and peace of Heaven.
What rest! What a change it was
from the small room, with no fire and one
window, the glass broken out, and the ach-
ing side, and worn out eyes, to the "house
of many mansionsW No more stitching
until twelve O'Clock at night; no more
thrustng of the thumb by the employer
through the work to show it was not done
quite right. Plenty of bread at last.
Heaven for aching heads. Heaven for
broken hearts. Heaven for anguish-bitten
frames. No more sitting up until mid
night for the coming of staggering steps,
No more rough blows across the temple.
No more sharp, keen, bitter curses.
Some of you will have no rest in this
world. 1t will be toll, and struggle, and
suffering all the way up. You will have
to stand at your door fighting back the
wolf with your own hand, red with car.
mage. But God has a crown for you. |
want you to realize this morning that he
is now making it, and whenever you weep
a tear he sets another gem in that crown;
whenever you have pang of body or
soul he puts another gem in that crown,
until, after awhile, in all the tiara there
will be no room for another splendor, and